Literary Festival organised by The Friends of the Kapiti Coast District Libraries.

 I'VE GOT TO USE WORDS

I am back at my desk this morning after a wonderfully stimulating weekend spent at the Literary Festival organised by The Friends of the Kapiti Coast District Libraries.  It was held in various venues in the Paraparaumu Public Libraries area and had an almost full house for every session. 

Janet Secker - organiser Ackowledgements: coastalaccessradio

The theme for the weekend was I‘ve Got to Use Words

Bill Manhire Acknowledgements VUP

and the event was launched by Bill Manhire  whose new book The stories of Bill Manhire VUP 2015 was on sale. Saturday saw one of the liveliest and most interactive panel discussions I have been to for a long time. Chaired by Janet Secker  (chairperson of The Friends) who was the driving force for the whole event, gave the team (Dave Armstrong - columnist for the Dominion Post, playwright and TV writer, Janet Holmes - Emeritus Professor and Associate Director of the Language in the Workplace Project at Victoria University of Wellington and Greet Pauwelijn - founding publisher of Book Island) full reign to take the theme where they wanted.  One of the many fascinating threads was the use of humour in books – particularly those for children and how what is side slitting in one culture is totally taboo in another. Toilet humour seems to vary greatly from culture to culture.  Fascinating stuff! ~! 

Dave Armstrong: Acknowledgments: www.stuff nz

This was followed by Adrienne Jansen launching her own new book, A line of sight  Escalator Press, 2015. On Sunday morning we were entertained and informed by Rob Clark who has owned Paper Plus Bookshop in Coastlands since 1979 and earlier held administrative positions in Booksellers NZ. His theme was the history of bookselling in NZ and a crystal ball look at what the future might hold for those treasures scattered up and down NZ – the local bookshop. On the whole this was not a youthful audience (Friends of anything does not usually attract the young) so many of the older shops were all part of their memory banks. Remember Paul’s Book Arcade in Hamilton? Parsons Bookshop in Wellington?  Lots of sad things here but the presentation finished  on the positive with mention of some of the shops that are thriving and blossoming n this region today  - the Children’s Bookshop in Kilbirnie, Unity Books in Wellington,  Hedley’s in Masterton and of course, Paper Plus. 

Parsons Bookshop Lambton Quay Photgrapher unkown

 

The whole event wound up with two hours of word games (some rather diabolically difficult) but all helped by glasses of ‘bubbly’ (or orange juice), amazing sweet cakes and sandwiches and lots of laughing.

 

Altogether a great weekend and just what was needed for me after the excitement of Tinderbox was fading away.

The festival also ran a competition for an essay, short story or ‘nostalgic piece’ based on the theme for the weekend    I’ve got to use words.